Priority Decides To Stay In Seminole

The Pharmaceutical Distributor Was Lured By Nearly $2 Million In Tax Incentives.

July 15, 2004|By Richard Burnett, Sentinel Staff Writer

Lured by almost $2 million in tax-break incentives, specialty-drug distributor Priority Healthcare Corp. of Lake Mary plans to remain in Central Florida and create about 450 jobs as part of a multimillion-dollar expansion, the company said Wednesday.

Priority decided to stay in Lake Mary -- in Seminole County after mulling overtures from other cities in Florida and across the country, the company said. At one point, Orange County was also in the running, company officials said.

The decision means Central Florida will retain Priority's current 550 employees as well as 450 new hires expected during the next five years. The company plans to hire pharmacists, nurses and other health-care professionals to support its pharmaceutical-distribution business. Average salaries top $50,000 a year, almost a third higher than Seminole's average salary, one of the highest in Florida.

"We received a tremendous amount of interest from other states and locales, offering incentives and looking for us to relocate," said Steven Cosler, president of Priority. "But we like where we are and we certainly listened a lot harder to offers from the place where you want to be."

Renovation already has begun on Priority's future headquarters, directly across from its current site in Lake Mary's Technology Park on Lake Emma Road, Cosler said. Overall, the expansion project is expected to cost about $3 million.

The incentive deal for Priority was one of the biggest in recent memory for Seminole County, said Bill McDermott, director of the county's economic-development department.

"Sure we knew we were in a competition, but I think we all felt that their preference was to stay in the area," he said.

Priority's high-wage jobs made the project eligible for Florida's Qualified Target Industry program, which provides tax-break incentives based on jobs created. Priority is eligible for more than $1.8 million in tax breaks through 2007. Most of the money came from the state. Seminole County and Lake Mary each contributed $182,400 to the incentive fund.

Traded on the Nasdaq, Priority has annual revenues of more than $1.5 billion. The company provides biopharmaceuticals, therapies and related disease-treatment programs and services to individuals with chronic illnesses.